With the year-end elections fast approaching, the KMT-PFP joint candidate for Kaohsiung mayor must be decided by the middle of next month, PFP Chairman James Soong (
Soong said he has assigned the party's secretary-general, David Chung (
According to Soong, opinion surveys will be a necessary process to evaluate the contestants' approval rating among the public, in addition to an assessment of their ability to meet public demand on developing the port city.
In view of the variability of public opinion, Soong proposed that the duration of evaluation should last for one to two months to ensure its accuracy.
Soong reiterated that the PFP has maintained a high degree of flexibility on the mayoral candidacy and will not rule out any qualified contestants from the assessment.
There are currently four contestants from within the KMT and PFP, namely PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (
Other than these four aspirants, the PFP has proposed that the two parties take into consideration former minister of the interior Chang Po-ya (
Soong said the two parties should not hold any prejudice on the possible candidate, as their goal is to find a person who is more suitable than the DPP incumbent, Frank Hsieh (
The KMT plans to select one from among the party's three aspirants to compete with PFP's Chang. But the KMT has so far failed to make a decision owing to problems persuading Huang Chi-chuan -- who has enjoyed the highest approval rating among the three but is disfavored by the party -- to drop his bid.
James Chen (陳建治), director-general of the KMT's Organization and Development Committee, confirmed that KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) had met with Huang on Monday to try to dissuade him and had managed to achieve a "breakthrough" on the matter.
Chen, however, would not disclose what the breakthrough was, saying it would be made known when the time is ripe.
KMT Vice Chairman Vincent Siew (
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